Monday, 9 December 2013

Yes, that's right. In an overwhelming display of laziness on our part, we thought we'd have a chat with The Incredible Flight Of Birdman about their excellent self-titled new EP which is out this week, but rather than spending a few minutes knocking together some probing questions, we thought we might as well just let them do the job for us. Here are the results...

TIFOB: What are the main themes on the album? Rich: The EP asks questions about whether or not to participate in life and be involved with other people. It doesn't find a satisfactory answer and advocates a mix of reclusion, hermitude, promiscuity, and loud-mouthed sociability.

TIFOB: How is the sound similar/different to your previous singles? Rich: It's a cleaner, poppier, sleazier, and more sensitive sound. The EP also features a stronger acoustic flavour than anything we've released previously.Nick: There are definitely familiar elements from those previous singles, but writing a seven song EP naturally means we'll be exploring different sounds, revealing more of the horrid subterranean tunnels of the band.

TIFOB: How were the songs written? Rich: By commission. We don't know who the fathers are.Nick: We base all the songs on the score from 'Crocodile Dundee'. That score is better than anything Ennio Morricone has ever written, and should be used for every film, by law. Imagine 'The Exorcist' with the 'Crocodile Dundee' soundtrack: it would have been a better film.

TIFOB: Your last two singles were produced by Ian Davenport (Band of Skulls/Phil Selway) at Courtyard Studios in Oxford. This time around you recorded with Ewan Davies at Chapel in Lincolnshire. Why the change? Nick: We spent a weekend at Chapel for my birthday last year, just to mess around and record a few acoustic things. The studio had a brighter sound which we wanted to make use of for some recordings proper, Ewan was very easy to get on with, and it's a very comfortable place to stay while you're recording. Louth also has an excellent farmer's market where we could buy cheese at a good price.Rich: Plus, Ian Davenport has become a successful producer and no longer has any time for us.Nick: And he hates each one of us ...Rich: ... and our music.Nick: We’ll definitely work with him again in the future though.

TIFOB: Can you tell me your stand-out memory from the recording? Rich: Treading dog shit all over the control room floor and over my effects pedals. And finding a dog shit in my bed two nights in a row.Nick: Really enjoying having my dogs with me for the recording.

TIFOB: You funded the recording through Kickstarter. What was the process like?Nick: It was surprising and exciting, and we'd like to do it again. We had no idea we'd get so much support, and from so many different parts of the world. Admittedly, 80% of the support was from Essex, but the other 20% was pretty international. Hopefully, those people will like the EP and be willing to pre-order the next one too. We’d like to record another five or six songs in the first half of 2014.

TIFOB: The cover art is great, and has a nice dialogue with the themes of the album. Was it done by the band?Nick: I had a hand in it, but it was principally done by an artist called Mad Sparks. I've never met her, I don’t know what she looks like, and I had to give feedback on the artwork by writing lipstick notes on a specific gravestone in my local cemetery.

TIFOB: If you could do a gig with another five acts, past or present, who would they be?
Fan Tan Jack; David Bowie; Donderevo; The Strokes; The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

Nick: Hmm, I might change TPOBPAT for Herman Brood. He could paint the stage too. And he'd get on well with FTJ.